


Doomed Royalty

by ClintFuckingBarton



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Ambiguous Relationships, F/M, Timeline Discussions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-25
Updated: 2013-02-25
Packaged: 2017-12-03 14:27:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/699244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClintFuckingBarton/pseuds/ClintFuckingBarton
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dave ponders some of life's biggest questions with Aradia-- is this whole effort fruitless?  Is there really any winning to be done here?  Are all the timelines doomed?  Are they the mayors of Fucksville, or the royalty of Fucksvainia?  Do John and Karkat know they're married?</p><p>A/N: Just some Dave and Aradia bonding.  Could be seen as a romantic relationship, or just them being super awesome time bros.  Whatever floats your metaphorical boat.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Doomed Royalty

**Author's Note:**

> Dave/Aradia wow I love these cuties.

“What if I’m a doomed Dave?”

Her eyes flicked up from the imaginary force she had been staring at, stirred by the sudden question. They’d sat here in silence for hours--or maybe only minutes--sometimes it could be hard to tell with Aradia. She often became so distant, so lost in thought, that his grasp of time completely escaped him.

Imagine that. The Knight of Time losing track of it.

“Such an odd thought...” she shrugged lightly, and drew her hands around the top of her knees, leaning forward, “...I don’t think it’s possible.”

“I don’t mean to sound like the biggest fucking downer this side of Downtown,” he kept his voice cool, because he wasn’t freaking out over the thought. It was just running through his mind, that was all. He was staying poised on the handle, “but it seems pretty possible. I mean, just imagine...what if all the Daves are doomed? Like...I’ve been trying so hard this whole time to iron out a situation in which this timeline can work, but if we are truly the mayors of Fucksville then--”

“A Mayor is an elected official, you were destined for this.”

He wasn’t sure if she was joking or not with how level her voice was, and it drove him insane, because she was that way a lot. “Oh great, so I’m the King of Fucksvainia?”

“No, you’re the Knight of Fucksvainia.” He wasn’t sure, but he thought that might be...a smile twitching at the side of her lips. “I think the Heir qualifies as the King of Fucksvainia.”

“What does that make Karkat?”

“First Advisor to the throne, I think.”

Okay, now Dave knew she was fucking around. Which wasn’t where he’d hoped this conversation would go, but he’d take it. Sometimes their fucking around got more serious as time progressed, “I think he’d be disappointed we didn’t name him King.”

“He can be the Queen if he wants.”

“So now Karkat is married to John, in this scenario?”

“I could name him consort.”

“Do you even know what a consort is?” Dave grinned, “I think Karkat would rather be John’s wife than John’s se--you know what. Never mind. What about you, though? I think I was going to name you as Queen of Fucksvainia, with how much major shit you get yourself into.”

Aradia knit her brows together, and then that smile came to fruition, “I’m but a lowly handmaid to the Fucksvainian throne,” her hands slid from her knees and came to rest behind her, hair falling in a cascade of dark waves as she leaned back, “But I think that our kingdom can evolve, with guidance. Perhaps even gain a name that doesn’t seem so...fucky. And I think...no, I know...I know that this is the timeline. This is the Dave. This is...the answer.” Her eyes weren’t on him, nowhere near. They were, instead, somewhere beyond him. Through him. Or maybe she was looking at something inside of him.

It made him a little uncomfortable, just like her gaze always did. Uncomfortable, but somehow home.

“I’m willing to bet that every Dave that ever died felt like he was the Dave that wasn’t going to partake of the death-cookies.”

“To die is not such an awfully big thing though, is it, Dave?”

“You know what I mean...like. Dead. No second chance, no nothing, _terminal timeline_ dead.”

The breath that left her seemed to ghost around for a moment, an unspoken sentiment between the two of them before she shifted her weight forward again, looking completely away from him to stare forward into some place and point in time that Dave couldn’t possibly hope to reach.

AA: maybe you dont want to reach it   
TG: i all kinds of want to be where and whenever you are   
TG: dont you get it??? thats the answer to all this dumb riddle bullshit 

Everything around them was suddenly slow. Slow...slow...slow...and then stopped. Like the whole universe had to take a break in awe of their motherfucking moment. Like even the stars wanted to hear what Dave had to say. He wondered if that had been her, if she’d done something, or if he was wrong and everything just seemed to have stopped.

TG: youre where i want to be   
TG: i want to understand like you do   
AA: you already understand dave what are you talking about???   
TG: you know thats a steaming pile of bullshit   
TG: im like a little fucking grub rolling around in my own timey gooey shit   
TG: whereas you are like a graceful swan floating on a pool of paradox space  
AA: that was quite poetic  
TG: i fucking try  
TG: but look aradia im serious right now  
TG: i wish i was even half as sure as you are about everything all the time  
TG: its like you know who you are and what youre doing and me  
TG: here i am still asking you if you think im a doomed dave  
AA: im not as sure as you think i am dave  
AA: im just making things up as i go and hoping that everything turns out for the better  
AA: i might even argue that im more lost than you are   
TG: thats ridiculous ive never met someone more composed than you   
AA: its almost as ridiculous as the alpha dave asking me if hes doomed 

He glanced at her sideways. It was almost impossible to tell from behind his shades, but the way she returned the glance told him that she knew. She knew that he was looking at her, saw right fucking through him. Their eyes were locked as if the tinted frames didn’t even exist.

“I didn’t ask if Alpha Dave was doomed, I asked if all the Daves are doomed. I asked if we’re so messed up that there’s no possible good ending for this. Haven’t you ever thought that maybe it’s a possibility? That maybe we’re all just going to...”

Not finishing seemed wise. He already felt like he’d lost points for being so worried about this--he was supposed to be composed. Cool as shit. Calm. Collected. Except it had never worked that way, and he knew it.  
knew it, so what was the point in even trying?

“If we were all doomed to failure, don’t you think you would have come back by now to inform us of that fact?”

“Aradia--”

“No, I’m serious, Dave. We are time. We are certainty. We are all possible outcomes.” Her voice, previously so even, seemed to spike ever so slightly. Her muscles seemed to tense, and then relax, and tense again. There was a ripple across her skin--something he couldn’t place, and yet knew all too well. “This will work. Something will work. All of reality demands it to be so--and even if that weren’t the case...” her gaze on him hardened, and he felt a shiver as all of the time-space around them seemed to bend, swirl, _kneel_ with the determination of a Maid who would not be stopped, “We demand it to be so. We will not be swayed. We will not be halted. If not in this timeline, then in the next. And the next, and the next, and so on and so forth until we find a way to make things right. We...we...we...”

That’s when it finally clicked for him. The tensing of her muscles, the spiking of her voice. The way she always knew what she was talking about, was so determined and sure of herself. Not just this moment, but everything about Aradia...Dave had always mistaken it for knowing. He’d always felt that her composure meant she _knew_ everything would be okay.

But it wasn’t.

It was just determination. It was raw fear, and a drive to make things the way she wanted them to be. She was still leagues ahead of him. She still comprehended time in a different way than he ever would. But it was a strange sensation to see Aradia in this light--just a girl who didn’t want to die again. Who didn’t want to lose anymore friends. Who wanted to be composed for the sake of everyone involved.

Just a girl.

“It was a pretty dumb thought, on my part, now that I think about it.” He kept his voice calm to offset hers. Because that wasn’t just determination--she was visibly upset. And he felt a little shitty for being the reason for that.

She shook her head, and let out a breath, suddenly becoming that calm beacon of eptitude to his serious ineptitude, almost reaching the ethereal calm that always made him feel so stable. Their eyes met again and this time there was something else there--she had asked herself the same question, hadn’t she? At one point or another, she had looked herself in the mirror and said _What if there are no timelines that work?_

But here, right here, the difference between them was gleaming through. He looked in the mirror, asked himself that question, and let it burn a smear of negativity on his soul. She asked herself that question, turned around, and smacked the damn thing in the face. Was she upset, maybe even scared? Absolutely. But she was determined in a way that he wished he’d been when the thought had crossed his own mind.

“Not a dumb thought, Dave. We all think about it sometimes, I think. About our quest of futility. About how we would feel if, after everything we’ve done, the whole of our efforts has been for naught,” their gaze was still locked, unwavering, “But it won’t be that way unless we want it to be. Unless we succumb to defeat. For as hopeless as it feels, there is always a will. There is always a way. We are not alone in this fight, and as long as we stand together...”

“...our kingdom can evolve.”

She nodded slowly and reached out, fingertips brushing against the symbol on his chest. There was a warmth there, and he had to wonder--only momentarily--how anyone could possibly not be in love with this girl. “Maybe even get a name that’s a little less...fucky.”

He grinned as she spoke, and placed his hand over hers.

She was right.

“I don’t know...I kind of like Fucksvainia.” 

They were going to win.

“We should probably let Karkat and John know they’re married, though.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally going to be a lot longer, but then I got sort of burned out on writing it. Sorry for the flowery assed language, it was sort of just me doing an exercise in little imagery.
> 
> I might've killed it with that last line but I couldn't not I'm so sorry.


End file.
